The Worst Kind of Nightmare
by Daydreaming-Chocoholic
Summary: "You're right, L, it WAS a hellish nightmare. In fact, it was the worst kind." Chara Death, Blood, Swearing. Soryy if parts seem chopy, this was for a contest and I had to rush for the deadline.


The Worst Kind Of Nightmare

L didn't sleep often. Granted, being human, he did need it, but due to...certain things, he abstained from it. Even now, at a quarter past four, he sat on the bed working on his laptop as Light turned in his sleep, muttering something sounding like 'go away'. Other than that, there was no movement in the room, the only sounds were light's mumblings and L's clicking.  
"No...please, get away..."  
He was having another nightmare. L knew it. Even while he was under servalence, Light had tossed and turned in his sleep so much that it was a wonder he got any rest at all. He often cried out in his sleep, at least twice he had bolted up in bed, practically screaming in fear of something that wasn't there. The poor boy seemed to be as plagued by them as the detective was.  
"No...Stop it...get away from them...please" That last word wasn't a command or even a request, it was simply begging, a terrified plea to some unknown nightmare to end. "No...No!" When L looked over at his suspect, what he saw hit close to home. The brunet's face was pale and twisted in such complete fear that he looked close to tears. The raven reached over and put his hand on the boy's head, and felt pity for him once more when he realized the youth was trembling. He tried to calm him down by stroking his hair softly like an owner would for sleeping a cat.  
"No...leave him alone...leave...him.." Light was still whimpering, but it had gotten quieter since L had pet him, his voice lost much of it's panicked tone. In fact, he had even leaned into the touch. Despite that, he was still pale and shaking badly, still horror stricken at something L couldn't imagine. When the boy scooted a bit closer in his sleep, it was all that L could do to sigh and close the laptop, carefully setting it on the bedside table without disturbing the other. He was all too familiar with nightmares, and was not about to be so cruel as to take away comfort from someone who was suffering from one. "Light-kun, be still, it's only a dream." But poor light curled into a ball against L's chest and did the exact opposite because, for whatever reason, Light's current night-fright seemed to get worse. He tensed up and shook violently, and even began to cry.  
"Light-kun, wake up, it's ok." L said, trying to calm the boy who was holding back a scream. "No...it's not true!"  
"Light-kun, snap out of it. Light-kun." He half-begged, trying to shake the younger awake. "I would never do that!"  
"Light-kun, wake up!"  
"Get away!"  
"Light!"  
Light's eyes snapped open, finally freed from his trance. "Wha..?" He knew he was clinging to the sugar addicted panda, but he didn't move. L was something real, something that didn't cause him pain when he closed his eyes, and he wasn't ready to let it go just yet. He blinked away some tears and looked up at L, who was regarding him with sympathy."Sorry for waking you, but you weren't exactly sleeping peacefully..."  
"No, don't be sorry...Thanks...Do I have to let go now?"  
Though not really accustomed to being this close to someone, he didn't want to take away the feeling of security light had, not just after he woke up form such a bad dream. "Not if you do not want to, light-kun."  
Knowing he wasn't going to be pushed away, light had no trouble in letting go for a moment to wipe his eyes, only to hold on to L for dear life once again, this time the detective put his arms around light as well, though not in a death grip."I know you suffer from nightmares, light-kun, but I have only ever seen one that brought tears to your eyes but one other time. What was it you were dreaming of that was bad enough to make you cry?" The concern in his voice wasn't one hundred percent fake, he knew how bad nightmares could get. Q, One of the first Wammy children, went insane from them. Granted, he was not exceptionally stable to begin with, but to have dreams bad enough to distort your mind in such a way...  
"I...can't remeber." That was a lie. Light knew exactly what the dream had been about, but he wasn't going to say it.  
"Perhaps that is for the best, then, that you don't remember." After a moment of silence, he added "It seems we are alike in more ways then one."  
"What do you mean?" That was a bit out of the blue, other than their way of thinking, how were they alike?  
"The main reason, though not the only, but a very large part of it, of why I don't sleep often, is because I am just as haunted in my dreams as you were just now, sometimes much worse. I sometimes fear that I'll lose my grip on reality, they are so real. Often I confues what is real with what was just a dream, and that frightens me." Light was startled by the sudden confession. It didn't seem like something one would consider a great secret, not something you share everyday, but not really something you'd take to the grave either. At the same time, it was someting very deep and personal, he was happy that L trusted him enough to tell him this, something that only he, L, and maybe Watari knew.  
"I always thought it was because you were an insomniac." It was more of a question than anything, simple curiosity taking hold for a moment.  
"It's the reason I am an insomniac, light-kun. Dreading sleep and what happens when you dream is not normally enough to cause one to not rest at all, but when you hate it in such a way for so long, it...let's say, imprints, itself on your body, carves itself into your very being. What was once a simple fear begins to manifest itself into a total rejection of sleep in both body and mind. Self-imposed Insomnia."  
"Oh.."  
"But even one with a case as bad as mine needs sleep, light-kun, and I fear I won't be able to hold out much longer." It was true, he hadn't slept in a while and it was getting hard to keep his eyes open, but he had gone longer and he would keep going if needed.  
"Ryuuzaki...how long has it been since you last slept?"  
"I'd say about four days, six hours, and-" "Four days!" The longest anyone should ever go is a day, maybe two, but this...this insane panda man had gone too far. That wasn't natural by a long shot!  
"Yes, I've gone six, but at that point it was hard to keep track of much of any thing and I finally fell out of a chair and just passed out."  
"That isn't healthy, Ryuzaki, it's just not safe, you need rest! I'll tell you what, if you're willing to surrender over to the nightmares, then so am I."  
"But light-kun-"  
"No buts." He interrupted. His tone was final, but the words that followed were full of concern and empathy. "You need sleep, L, getting so little sleep is dangerous. If your dreams get too bad, I'll wake you up. Just rest."  
"Only if light-kun does the same." L countered.  
Shit. He really didn't want to go back to sleep. It may seem childish not to simply because of a dream, but light didn't care. He wasn't a little kid afraid of some big green monster that hid in his closet or something foolish like that, no his monster was all too real and the possibility of this nightmare turning reality was too much to take. "A-actually, Ryuzaki, I'm not really all that tired right now. I think i'll stay up a while and clear my head, maybe look out the window, you go on and get some sleep."  
"light-kun, the window is at least ten feet away from the bed and the chain will hardly let you leave with out me, how exactly do you expect to get to the window?"  
"I don't HAVE to go to the window, I could read or-"  
"But it's dark, light-kun, and since the lamp is on my side of the bed, it would keep me up after you scolded me for not sleeping. Not to mention you'd pretty much have to crawl over me to even reach it, and knowing you, you'd never attempt it."  
"It's exactly polite to crawl over someone just to turn on a light that would keep them up all night, that's just mean."  
"light-kun is afraid to sleep because of his nightmare." He muttered, more to himself than anything. It was merly an observation, but one that pissed light off.  
"I never said that!"  
"You're denying it?"  
Nothing.  
"Well?"  
"Shut it." "Light-kun, we both need rest, it is hard enough finding clues while awake, much less trying while half asleep, trust me. I will sleep when you do."  
"If it gets you to bed, then fine. But if I find out you stayed up all night after I fell asleep-" A soft snore caught his attention, "Uh, L?" But no sound other than breath came from him, not even his usual 'call me ryuzaki' speech. So he stopped, not wanting to wake the other. "Good night, Ruyzaki. Peaceful dreams." Was the last thing the boy said before he fell asleep, still holding onto detective loosely.  
The detective smiled. Light would get some much needed rest, even if that meant being used as a stuffed animal. Oddly enough, he was ok with it. Light was warm and soft. While he was sleeping he was even safe, Kira or not. So L hugged his suspect a little closer, resting his head on light's to get more comfortable. He did not feel that way towards Light, but since a simple touch had kept him calm, then maybe this would be enough to keep them both sleeping peacefully through the night. "Good night, Light-kun." He muttered as the world turned black, "Sleep well." And sleep claimed him.

When the detective woke up, it was still dark. That didn't surprise him, sometimes he woke many times during the night, even if he didn't have a nightmare. No, the thing that caught his attention was that he knew he hadn't fallen asleep tied to a chair. The restraints forced him to sit with his back strait and his feet on the floor, causing him more than a little pain from having his spine so strait. "I should have tried to stay awake longer light, something like this was bound to happen sooner or later," he muttered to no one but himself, vaguely wondering how light had undid the chain and done all this as he started to jerk his hands and feet against their ropes to no avail, only to give himself rope-burn multiple times. As if on Que, a laptop that was sitting on the floor turned on, blinding him for a moment. It took L a few minutes to adjust to the sudden light, but he looked at the computer as soon as he was was his computer, he was fairly certain, though this was just a guess seeing he had no way to tell for sure. The screen was black, white letters typing themselves onto the screen as he watched, reading : GLAD TO SEE YOU'RE AWAKE. THIS WOULDN'T BE AS FUN IF YOU STAYED UNCONCIENCE THE WHOLE TIME.  
The text was on a timer system and soon disapeared, replaced by: ARE YOU SURPIRSED? I THOUGHT YOU KNEW THIS DAY WOULD COME.  
He knew it was light's doing now, what else would he be expecting but his own death? But if light thought L would go down with out a fight, he had another thing comming. All he had to do was undo the ropes...  
The letters were replaced again.  
TELL ME, L, DO YOU REMEMBER WHO I AM?  
He froze. No. No, he had been wrong, this was not light. If it had been, it wouldn't have said 'remembered', it would have been something more along the lines of, 'Do you know who I am?', or 'You never even guessed who I really was.', or even something as cliche as 'Your time has finally come'. This was not light. And how did this person expect him to tell him anything? L doubted the one who tied him up would still be here, that would just be insane, though they might be watching from near by...If he was still in HQ they might be in the severance room.  
I GUESS YOU FORGOT. THAT CUTS ME, LAWLEIT, THAT CUTS ME DEEPLY. I HOPE I'LL GET THE CHANCE TO RETURN THAT KIND DEED OF YOURS.  
L could only stare. This couldn't be light, that was now out of the question completely. Only himself and Watari knew his name, that, and one that had called him something very close to it. This was bad. This was very bad.  
SINCE YOU DON'T REMEMBER ME, MAYBE I SHOULD REMIND YOU OF THE ONE YOU LEFT BEHIND IN YOUR PAST?  
Once again, the text disappeared and re-typed itself, letter by letter.  
IM THE REASON YOU FEAR LOOKING AROUND SHADOWED CORNERS. IM THE REASON YOU CAN'T STAND SEEING YOUR REFLECTION IN THE MIRROR.  
IM THE REASON YOU HAVE NIGHTMARES ALMOST EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, LAWLIE.  
The computer screen changed one last time, this time a deep-red gothic 'B' in the center of a white background.  
"I'm why you're afraid of the dark." A sinister whisper said from across the room, past the computer.  
L's head snapped up immediately at the voice, this action was useless, though, because the monster was lurking behind the light cast from his computer. He didn't need to see who it was, the paralyzed detective already knew. "Back Up-"  
The voice was closer this time, he could tell the murderer was right in front of him. "Don't you dare call me that, Lawlie pop! I'm not you re extra any more, I don't NEED to be, I'm better than that and you know it!" L didn't get to respond, almost before Beyond had finished his sentence, he had thrown a punch directly into the detective's face, sending the chair he was tied to toppling over, his head cracking against the hard, un-carpeted floor. Head throbbing, nose bleeding, eyes screwed shut with bright lights dancing behind them, L choked out the only question he could think of with a pain filled groan, "What the hell do you want from me?"  
Beyond stepped around the chair, somehow managing not to trip in the darkness, and leaned down only inches from the clipped raven's face. "Revenge," he purred. "You took everything away from me, L Lawliet, every thing from me, A, C, from a lot of people actually. I'm just here to return the favor." He yanked on the bleeding man's shirt and pulled the chair back up. "And it's not just you, Lawlie, I could never hurt you with out getting a few more involved..."  
L's eyes snapped open, greeted by more black. Others...? "B, don't you dare lay a finger on them, any of them! Or I'll-", but he was cut off by another solid punch in the face, sending his head right back onto the pavement with another sickoning 'CRACK'. His head hurt like hell, he was bleeding, tied to a chair that was on it's side, and trapped in a pitch black room with an insane killer that harvored more than a few grudges against him. If not for the pain he felt, he'd think it was a nightmare sent to him strait from hell, his own personal demon attacking him with physical pain and memories that hurt even twice as bad. And it was only going to get worse.  
"Or you'll WHAT! You can't do a thing to stop me, LAWLIET, you can't save them! The people you care about most will die tonight, slowly and painfully right before your eyes, and YOU'RE the one who sealed their fates!" Beyond yelled at the detective challengingly, daring L to defy him while sending a forceful kick to his prisoner's stomach at the last word, turning him over and stealing all the air from his lungs. The lights were turned on as L was still coughing and gasping, turning his black world a blinding white. He was in a plane white room with cement floor covered in some of his blood. He was facing away from the door, it was a room he could almost remember.  
"Do you even know how many lives you ruined just by living, lawlie? How hard so many people worked to become you, how many threw their lives away to take on that letter you hide behind, only to have their dreams crushed by the very one who built them up?" He asked slowly and quietly, walking to the other side of the room where L could hear someone struggling to speak or move or even breath. "How many people slowly lost themselves attempting to be of SOME use to you, only to be cast aside like trash once their job was done...Or how many have been killed in your place? There's too many people that have gone through hell because of you to count, Lawlie, I'm only here to take care of slightly more personal matters." There was a heavy dragging sound, more struggling, and a strangled yell, as if someone was being pulled along the ground by their hair.  
"B, listen to me! No one else has to suffer, just kill me off and be done with it! I understand that a lot of people have been hurt because of me...but hurting more wont bring them back!" He pleaded, his commanding tone turning to mere begging as Beyond dragged his soon-to-be victim into view.  
"Do you remember C, the first girl taken into Wammy's House? Ah, she was brilliant, I do miss her so. She and I had a real connection, L, we even dated in her last few years there." The dragging and struggling continued, he was going slow on purpous, just to cause his prisoner more pain. "She never even wanted to be L, you know, C never thought that she was worth the letter. She only wanted to be useful to you some how, to be helpful and prove she wasn't worthless. I always told her how brilliant she was, how beautiful she was, and honestly she would have become L had things turned out slightly differently...But C never believed me, said there was no way someone like her could ever become someone like you, even though I told her she didn't have to become anything, dear C was perfect already in every single way." Beyond paused and cracked his neck, staring at nothing in particular before he continued and started dragging again. "Despite all I whispered to her, all A and I tried to reassure her about, she never thought she was worth anything. Had you visited once in a while, you would have known and maybe said something. You really would have liked her, C, she was a good girl. The only thing she clung to as far as L was concerned was the honor of meeting you someday, just to meet you. And do you know what? You never came. Not. ONCE. She eventually went mad. The poor dear that I loved to hold in my arms and comfort when she when she cried was taken from Wammy's and put the hell hole of some damnable mental hospital," he roughly shoved Matsuda against the wall, propping him up in full view. His eyes were dilated from some sort of drug, his shirt was gone, and the poor man looked like he had been beaten mercilessly a few times already. He was horribly pale and fearing, pleading the detective with his eyes to save him, untie him, just to do SOMETHING other than stare with shock and useless pity. But L couldn't. Beyond headed back out of sight as Matsuda sank to the floor, he continued in a slow painful voice dripping with hatred. "where they shocked her, drugged her, bound her, confined her, and bled her dry of all emotion and rational thought. Eventually, she committed suicide by saving up her medication and overdosing on it, just to make it all stop. She even left a note. Do you know what it said?"  
When he came back, beyond had a larg metal tool box, it's contents rattling against each other metallicly, making Matsuda's terror filled eyes widden even more then they already were. Beyond opened the red box and took out a carving knife, holding it lovingly, letting it catch the light of the room and send it glistening back. "You have no idea? Fine, I'll tell you since you can't figure it out. It said...," he put the knife to Matsuda's chest, elicting a strangled cry before blood was even drawn. The second-rate detective was trying desperately to scream for help and had tears begining to roll down his cheeks by the time Beyond started cutting, slow and carful.  
"B! B, let him go! PLEASE! What happened with C has got nothing to do with him, he never did anything wrong! Damn it, Back Up, LISTEN TO ME!"  
Wrong choice of words. Beyond froze, the blade still in the other's heaving chest. The cuts hadn't been too deep, he was trying to keep calm and drag this out as long as he could, but that had done it. L Lawleit calling him a simple backup, DEMANDING that he follow orders and claiming surpeiority of him. Not only that, but he had dared to speak C's letter. After what he had caused, he had absolutly NO right, none at all! Beyond no longer cared about keeping his hand steady, his movements became jerkier, the cuts deep and jagged, all Matusda could do was writhe beneath him and scream, tears streaming down his face freely.  
L couldn't look away, his arms, legs, shoulders, and torso, even his head was tied to the chair, forcing him to keep watching as his subordinate was sliced apart by his own shadow, he couldn't even bring himself to close his eyes or blink away the tears that were threatening. "No...No, Beyond, PLEASE!" he begged again in vain, his please drowned out by Matsuda's screams. Beyond stood and stepped away from his victim, that was even bloodier than himself. Standing behind the great L to observe his work as the blood pooled onto the floor and began flowing quickly towards the detective's head. "Can you read it? Her final words before she took what was left of her life?" When there came no answer, he strode back over to the bleeding Matsuda and put the knife just above his heart. "Read it L! Out loud! Do it, or so help me I'll cut his heart out and stuff it down your throat!" He said, putting the sharp blade back into flesh to prove his point, deep enough to stab the heart beneath if he moved wrong. The very worst part was: that statement hadn't been an empty threat. L knew full well that Beyond was deadly serious and would keep his word. Matsuda cried not-quiet-silent tears, knowing he would die here no matter what happened.  
The blood had reached him by now, it was collecting around L's face, sticking to his cheek and getting in his hair. It made him feel sick and he did his best to keep it out of his mouth as he did as instructed and read with difficulty, "Goodbye L. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything right..."  
"Even in her last moments all she thought of was how much of a disappointment she was to you...I used to visit her, you know." He said in a solom voice, sitting next to Matsuda and tightening the ropes around the bleeding man and undoing the cuffs on his wrists, only to put the blade to one of them and start slashing every which way, getting deeper with every cut and talking over Matsuda's half hearted screams and moans. He had lost a lot of blood, he wouldn't be awake much longer, and death would soon follow. "She had stopped recalling our good times together. Everything she said was slowly beginning to run together into random statements that only worked in her mind, she was making no sense most of the time. And the things that did form correct sentences? All they were were questions. All of them about you. Did L go to Wammy's since I left? How is he? Did you get to meet him? What's he like? Do you think he'll forgive me? Tell him I'm sorry I was so useless...Every word she said was a dagger through my heart, L. Her life was nothing to her with out the possibility of helping you. She had even forgotten about us...it killed me..." He stopped cutting only when he had mutilated the wrist to the point where it was little more than bloody chunks of meat that hardly covered the scraped up bone. After a short pause, he grabbed the other wrist and began again. L didn't even say anything to him this time, the cheery man that had always lit up the office was fadeing fast, his blood covering the detective. He could hardly manage a groan as his rists were ruthlessly destroyed. "The last week that I saw C...all she did was cry. Horrible sobbs that tore and wrenched at my core and made it bleed. But the very last day I saw her alive...she laughed. Her eyes were wild and far gone from all sanity, her grin was forced in an effort to apear somewhat normal...I still hear that laugh, L Lawliet, it haunts my every dream. It wasn't even human. It was...SICK." He examined the rist in his hand again, eyes distant, lost in thought. His expression softened and he whispered in a voice that would make almost anyone cry, "I had loved her, L...And you took her away." Matsuda's strength was finally used up and his half closed eyes fluttered shut. They wouldn't open again.  
Beyond stood and wiped his hands on his pants, walking back towords the door to leave the detective alone with the bleeding corps. L only stared. Matsuda had been a good man, a friendly face, a kind and comforting person. He had been the purest one at HQ, he hadn't deserved to die, not like this. He was killed because he knew L. Because of L. L. He had killed him. By neglecting to think more of that first generation, he had killed an innocent man, one that had befriended him no less. L thought he might cry. C and Matsuda hadn't been too different if Beyond was anything to go by...He knew that being L would have it's downs and cause pain to a lot of people a lot of pain...but just how many had he hurt and forced to early deaths?  
Beyond came back in with a towel, which he tossed in L's general directions, saying, "Feel free to use it ans whipe some of that innocent blood of your hands, Lawile, doubt it'll come off, but you could always try." And he started rummaging through the toolbox again, voice and actions like they were before his story."I killed Wammy while you were still out cold. He always hatted me anyways, so that was for myself." He turned to L as if he had asked 'how', "Beaten to death. Very bloody, knees are shattered, ribs are busted in, and his skull is smashed far beyond repair." And he turned back to his box. "All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Watari back together again. I doubt even you'd be able to put that puzzle together, Lawlie. Oh, and the one called 'Mogi' pissed me off, so he's dead too. Stupid. If only he had stayed out of it, he woulda gone on to live quite a few more years. Poor guy had looked like he had a good head on his shoulders too- well, HAD, now it's in the main room on the coffee table. I must say, it makes a wonderful center piece." He said that as if it was meant as a compliment.  
L's mind shut down. Watari...Quellish Wammy, the one that took him in when he had now where else to go, the one that had cared for him all these years, HIS FATHER was dead. Beaten to death by a mad man trying to prove a point. He'd never see his kind smile again, never get scolded for neglecting a case that he thought was too easy, never hear his loving voice...it was too much. "D...dead...H-he's..."  
"Yes, Lawlie, people are considered dead if they are no longer living." Beyond stated, clearly thinking L should be able to grasp something as simple as this.  
"You killed him...YOU FUCKING KILLED HIM! Untie me. BACK UP, UNTIE ME RIGHT NOW! I swear I'll make you pay, you'll pay with your God Damned life if it's the last thing I do!" he ragged, straining against the ropes with all the force he had, all too eager to drive the bloody knife through his reflection's cold heart. The only one who had always been there for him, standing by his side and saying 'It's all ok' even when it wasn't, was gone. Died a gruesome death because of the monster he was trapped with. He no longer cared about being justice or the proper way to punish a murderer, all he wanted to see was this pitiful excuse of a man die. Slowly and painfully.  
"Hurting me wont bring him back, Lawliet. Didn't you just say the same?" He mocked, loving the look L had on his face. It was pure hatred, a look that made it clear if her were to come within range of the detective, he would regret it in an instant. Beyond couldn't get enough of it. "It's a little different when you're on the other end, aint it? Having the one that stood by you through think and thin die a pitiful death? This is only a taste, Lawliet, more is yet to come!" He yelled the last part, glaring at L with all the hate he could muster.  
L was shaking with rage."Shut the hell up, Back Up..." He growled into the blood covered ground, heart torn into shreds. B had taken everything from him now, what more could he do? Kill the rest of the team? That was a given, but what after that? L was sure to die too, so what did it matter. He couldn't stop his reflection unless he killed him, and he couldn't even move, so that was out of the question. All he could do was sit there and take it until Beyond tortured him to death. "I'll be right back, Lawlie, don't go anywhere." He sneered as he left the room, wanting nothing more than to get this show really going.  
'Very original, asshole.' L thought bitterly, wishing at least one of his hands weren't tied to the arm of this damn chair so he could reach that knife...Beyond had killed Matsuda right in front of him, beaten his father to death somewhere in the building, and had Mogi's head on a silver fucking plater. This monster was going to pay, L didn't care that killing him wouldn't bring the others back, he was going to pay and L would make sure he did so even if it cost him his sanity.  
"Now, I can't make EVERYONE bleed to death, what's the fun in that? So I set a little something up for Mr. Aizawa and Mr. Ide." Beyond said as he came back into the room, pulling L back into a sitting position so he could see the laptop again. "I contacted them a moment ago and made it very clear what's going to happen." The image changed once again, this time a split screen. One side showed Ide, holding a remote and blindfolded. He was bound to a chair with thick leather straps, his seat rigged with explosives. On the other, it showed Aizawa in the same position, both looked like they had gone through hell...he doubted B had gone easy on them, but compared to poor Matsuda, they didn't look all that bad yet...  
"You didn't seem to remember C, so do you think you can remember X and Z? Two friends pitted against each other because of you?" He strolled around L to stand behind him, making the hairs on the back of the detective's neck stand on end at the thought of having his back to the cirieal killer.  
"I'm sure you will, L, because they were two that went on from Wammy's to become something greater. Do the names Eraldo Coil and Charels Denuev ring any bells?"  
L froze again. Those two...had been Wammy kids? He knew the letters X and Z vaguely, they had been very promising students, even if they weren't capable of being L. But after they graduated, he never heard anything about them, they hadn't been good enough to be his successor so there was little need to keep contact with two boys he hardly knew existed, so things took their natural course. But the things that had happened with Coil and Denuve...Beyond had a right to be angry at him...Just how many Wammy children had faced smiler fates because of him?  
"I remember them pretty well, myself. Those two were the first to graduate, only took them half the year to do it. The only two of us that went on to lead lives NOT filled with disappointment from having their dreams crushed. As far as I know, they kept in contact with one another fairly well, until they became Eraldo and Charles. Then, as crime rates went up, you decided to step up your game, taking on all the hardest cases before they got word of them, dwindling people's respect for them. Obviously they remained the second and third greatest detectives, who else was there to really compete with other than you? Then they went after each other, trying to earn the right to more cases while you watched from above, doing nothing to help your once could-be-successors."  
"I didn't know who they were-" L tried to protest, only to have Beyond cut him off "You still don't! You never tried to know any of us deeper than our grades! Once they were out of Wammy's, you didn't care who did what, all you cared about was having to wait another year or two and try for another replacement! You never once came to check up on us, L, never did anything to help us! You were to good for us, is that it! It wasn't worth C's visit, not worth X's broken arm, Z's surgery, not even A's award or J's funeral! Hell! The only thing that WAS worth your time was asking for a once-a-month report of our progress!"  
"You know it wasn't like that! I took the cases I was presented with, I never stole them from anyone!" he defended, "Watari told me not to worry about the letters, he said there was things to be done and he would take good care of you-"  
"The Letters? That's what we were, huh? Just more failed possibilities, chances that went wrong...I think it's time to get this show on the road." He said, voice becoming quieter towards the end, only to pick back up as he continued. "X and Y worked well together, never fought, got their jobs done on time and with out question. But thanks to your little challenge, they were pitted against each other and forced into a war with they're once-been idol. You know what happens next, Lawlie, I know you know at least that much. Now there's two less detectives in the world, and what did you do after they were gone? Took the names they worked so hard to achieve, continuing on in your happy little world." He walked further behind L, taking out an old clunky phone that was remotely connected to the intercom system. "These two don't sound as much like Eraldo and Charles as I would have liked, but I work with what I have." He shrugged, pressing a button on the side that turned the communications between him and his captives back on. "Aizawa, Ide, you know full well what is going on here, yes?" He spoke into the outdated telephone, his words being mimicked by the computer's speakers. Both men on the screen remained silent, nodding grimly. "Good. You have fifteen minutes. That time can and will vary depending on my little detective friend's actions. Oh- and if you do not choose who will die with in the given time, not only will both of you say hello to your precious 'Kami', but Mr. Aizawa's wife and little girl will be joining you, along with Ide's brother. I'd hurry if I were you." With that, he released the button and dropped the phone, making it clatter loudly against the floor before he stomped on it, crushing it into countless unusable pieces. Now there was no way to tell the contestants on this demented game show when their time was shortened or if it was up, not only were they blindfolded, there wasn't even a clock in either of the rooms.  
L didn't say a word. It wasn't enough to hurt the people he held dear, but he had to hurt their families too? "Do you know what's REALLY fun about about all this?" He asked, putting his hand under L's chin and forcing him to look up the mere inch his restraints allowed. "If Ide presses the button on his remote, he'll blow himself to bits, along with his brother's apartment. Same goes for Aizawa and his wife and kid. So if they try to save themselves or their family, all they're really doing is insuring their own deaths. I already know who'll press it first." Beyond said with a big grin and a short laugh, as if this was jut a game or some comedy he was watching. "Wanna know which one is a murderer?" His last words were more serious, like he was telling a secret that no one but them should know.  
"They wont' play your games, B, don't do this..."  
"What was that, Lawlie, I'm not sure I heard you, you're just so quite." He grinned, knowing full well what L had said. L didn't want anymore people killed, that was clear as day. But he didn't intend to stop just because his predecessor had told him to do so, no, these two would die tonight no matter what happened. L must have known that, but that wouldn't stop him from pleading with the maniac like it would save everyone. But the killings meant so little to Beyond, they were hardly more that a sligthly entertaining way to get a job done, nothing more. He would bring L to his knees, strip him bare, take his sanity, and make his reality as painful and twisted as Beyond's was. L glared strait into his gleaming dark eyes, "I said don't do it! Neither one of them is going to press it, BACK UP, you know that! You'll end up setting off their bombs because their time runs out, and they'll die thinking the other betrayed him!"  
That little outburst was rewarded by a harsh slap across the face instead of the punch L deserved. Beyond wouldn't stand for being called an extra, not ever again, but he was getting tired of hauling this deadbeat up off his sorry ass once he fell. "What time limit?" He asked quietly, his voice dangerous. "When they die depends on two factors, Lawliet: They're own selfishness...and you. You're not helping them any by calling me a backup, so I'd consider my words carefully next time before you speak." L didn't respond.  
"Good to see you understand the situation." He turned back to the screen, confident in his threat. "It's useless to tell them how it's all rigged, too. These two can't communicate with us or each other, there'd bee too much begging and they'd piss me off to the point where I'd just blow'em up on the spot, ruining the fun of it. "  
This wasn't just revenge for him, it was a game. He was having fun, glad that L looked at him with such hatred in his eyes and disgust in his heart. By the time day broke, he would drag the Oh-so-great L down to his level and show him what Hell really looked like. "You're sick." He murmured. L couldn't help it. He knew this might kill both detectives, but he just couldn't help it. Beyond was utterly insane, and his twisted mind set had doomed several people already, 'sick' was the only word to describe what was going on.  
"Sick?...You just don't understand it yet. Sooner or later, you'll see it all through my eyes, Lawleit. I can guarantee it." His voice was too quiet, heavy with regret and tradgety. The way he said it made it much more unsettling than anything else he had said all night...Because L knew he was right. Just LEARNING how to be L was unforgiving on the mind, and being the letter was ten times harder. This job had already taken it's toll, as proof, the only reason he had this position was because the first L had been put into an asylum. Eventually, if Beyond let him live through the night, the pressure of being in charge of so many, the things that had happened tonight, the power he held and was despised for, the people he had sent to their executions...All of it would build and build and would eventually break him, pulling him down into the darkness that Beyond thrived in.  
"Never." L defied, as much to Beyond as it was to himself. "I'll never fall that far." Beyond leaned in with a smile that was almost kind looking, as if he was going to reasure L that it would be ok. "Oh, but you will. My life's goal is to see to it that you do."  
Before L could reject the posible reality, there was a crash and smothered explosion.  
"No..."Both detective and murderer looked back at the monitor, where Ide's camera had stopped working and left the left side of the screen blank. Aizawa still looked like he was at war with himself, not sure if he could kill another man and his brother for his own familie's sake.  
"I-ide...Ide!"  
"Huh, what do ya know, I was wrong. I was sure familyman-Aizawa would be the one to go first...Oh well, his turn will come soon enough."  
"What!" Ide had just been killed and he was already talking about Aizawa's death! "You killed Ide and you act as if nothing happened! The very least you can do is let Aizawa go, he has a wife and child, you can't take him from them! You said-"  
"What is it that I said, Lawlie? I never said anything about letting the survivor go free, did I? He still doesn't know that Ide was selfish, so he'll still set off his explosives, it's just a matter of time. Besides, Ide's the one that set it off, I didn't do anything. It's his own damn fault he's dead. Soon Aizawa will do the same and he'll paint the walls red too. But you're right, he has a family to think about, and even I have a conscience. Aizawa, his family, they don't have to die, you know." He said, trying to tell L that it could be avoided.  
"No one has to die!" L groweled, "Matsuda, Ide, Watari, none of them had to die!"  
"Not true." Beyond corrected. "They all had a reason to die, well, two of them did, anyway. The task force members fell because it fit into my plan of destruction. But I don't need to drag an Innocent woman and child into this, Ide's brother may be gone, but you can save them."  
L's eyes got a little wider as the computer screen, all of it, not just half, turned white again. A black margarine flashed, waiting for it's owner to begin typing. "Aizawa...he just-"  
"Tried to save his own worthless life at the cost of his friend's? No, he didn't, he's still there. Not for long, though, he looked like he was ready to cave..."  
This was a trick. It had to be. Beyond had said so in the beginning, 'You can't stop me, Lawliet, you can't save them. The ones you care about the most will die tonight, slowly and painfully, right before your eyes.' L had seen Ide press the button on the screen, right before his eyes, but Aizawa's camera wasn't active anymore, and he hadn't done anything. Maybe that was the key: right before your eyes. Aizawa and his family were far away from L, they didn't even show on the screen, so was it possible for this to be a real chance for them to go free? But Watari and Mogi...he hadn't even known about their deaths until he had been told about them. The chance of this being real was painfully low, only 4.23%...But to let another innocent man die...  
"Tell me how."  
"Tell you what, Lawlie? You'll have to be more specif-" "Tell me how to save them, dammit!" The detective yelled, cutting him off. He knew it was a long shot that might only doom Aizawa more, if it was possible, but he had to try and save him, and that couldn't happen if the man blew himself up while this fucking psychopath played more mind games! Beyond grinned again. "It's simple, really." He said as he undid the rope binding the black-haird man's right hand, sure to tighten the ones on his arm before he turned his back to him and walked a short ways away. "You only have to do one little thing for me."  
L clenched and unclenched his fist, stretching his pale fingers. He was glad to not be completely restricted anymore, but at the same time, what the hell did this freak want him to do? He shuddered, choosing to NOT think about the possibilities. The murder turned back to L, holding the computer out in front of him. "All you have to do, L Lawliet, is type your name." Truthfully, that was all he had to do, there were no tricks with this, all B needed was L to put his name into the computer, no more, no less. "If you want to save them, then type your real, full name. I already know it, there's nothing to lose. Though I guess you'd be wary about it, anyway, with Kira on the lose. Hell, even if he wasn't, you'd still fight tooth and nail for it." He leaned in a bit closer, his eyes sparkling with something L couldn't identify. "But trust me, L, I would never give your name to anyone. Because it's something only you and I know, something to hold dear, it's almost sacred. Why in the world would I destroy something like that by letting it get out into the open? Just put your name into the computer, and it'll stay there, safe and sound." When the detective didn't say anything, he tried again. "If you don't want Aizawa and his loved ones to die, then just give me your name."  
L couldn't believe it. Out of all the things he could take from him right now, he chose that, his name? No. Selfish or not, he wouldn't do it. Everyone has things that they will never give up, and that was his, the only thing he had left."Why the HELL would I do that? Being L has taken everything from me! My childhood, my friends, my home, my sense of security, I'm afraid to walk outside anymore, B, afraid I'll be shot at again or stabbed or held captured and sold to the highest bidding country and if you still don't believe all this then just look at me! All of that has happened before! Between you and this position, I haven't sleptproperly in years! When I do all the dreams that come are nightmares of you killing me! I've had my tea spiked with a mild acid that was supposed to kill me, know what it did instead! It burned away most of my damn taste buds! Everything I eat has to be ten times sweeter than any person should be able to take just so I can even REMOTELY taste it! All because I was forced to be L! I was pushed off a fucking BUILDING, for Christ's sake! And by the very person I was hunting down, no less! Do you have ANY idea what it's like to not be able to stand strait or sit normally or even WALK correctly without practically screaming in pain! My name's all I have left!" After all the things that have come and gone, even counting the title that was forced on him, the name 'L Lawliet' was the one thing he clung to desperately and refused to lose. Was he really going to be so selfish with this as to let innocent lives be taken, though...?  
"You'd rather them die? That can easily be arranged, after all, my little jail bird still doesn't know what's going on, he's bound to kill himself soon. Oh well, at least he dosen't know you could have saved him, that would only break his heart. After all, he risked his life for this investigation, for you, and you wouldn't save him even though it was so simple as to type your name. Poor guy." Said Beyond in a sympathetic voice, laying as much gilt onto L as he could. "I think I feel worse for the mother and daughter though, the little girl gets to grow up without a dad and the mom gets to raise her on her own. My mom had to for a few years after dad passed, no matter how much I tried to help the poor woman, she was always so tired and rundown that it was sad. If not for Wammy's, I'd never have even gotten any schooling, and they don't have that option. Wish'em luck, Lawlie, because their bleak future is all thanks to you. Or if you want, I could put them out of their misery?"  
He hung his head. L knew he was being selfish, but couldn't he be for once? Just once? He had given everything to strangers, everything but his name and sanity, and that was going fast too, all for the price of being something he hadn't even wanted to be: L. Everyone relied on him, everyone hated him, everyone wanted to know who hid behind the mask but didn't dare look unless they wanted him dead. His sleep, his home, his spine, his LIFE, they had taken all of it from him, didn't he deserve to keep just one thing safe from grabbing, greedy hands? No...He supposed not. Not when the exchange was human lives, what had he been thinking? He had truly considered letting the others die so he could keep something his, like a child pouting because he had his toy taken away! Did it really even matter? Beyond was going to take everything from him, anyway, and he'd be dead before the morning. Why not give his last possession to save the Innocent, the very thing he had been raised to do since he was eight? "Please give me the computer, Beyond." He told the murderer in a defeated voice, knowing there was nothing left to lose now. "I haven't got a choice."  
The raven moved closer, putting the keyboard in L's reach and not saying a word as the world's top detective typed his name in for the first time in years, one letter at a time.  
"L Lawliet." It felt strange saying the name, he hadn't done so since he was small. He used to stay up late and write it down countless times and then read it out loud, just to see it on paper and hear someone call him by something other than 'L' or 'Ryuzaki' or some other alias he had. Something he had to stop when he got older, because Watari would catch and scold him. But every once in a while until he was fifteen, he still did.  
The laptop was closed and moved out of his reach, being dropped onto the floor and kicked half way out of the room with more than a few loud clatters as it skidded across the floor. "It wasn't so hard now was it?" Said Beyond, his voice full of noticeably fake pride. "You did it all by yourself like a big boy! And here I was, thinking I'd have to use a dirty underhanded trick."  
"Shut the hell up! Just go deactivate the bomb! Before-"  
L's blood ran cold for the umpteenth time that night, as he heard something that made him lose all hope and caused his heart to ache.  
A ffaint crashing sound, and a smothered explosion, louder than the last one. Aizawa had just...But...  
Beyond looked at his watch, Matsuda's blood still covering parts of it. "Took him long enough, thought the bastard would make be wait all day. But we had to wait for , anyway, so it's not that much of a set back. Damn annoying, though." He muttered. "He should just about be done..."  
L couldn't think. Aizawa was dead and had taken his family with him, and L couldn't stop it. He knew the chances of Beyond giving him an opportunity to save them was low, but he had still put faith in it! What had he expected from the unstable copy cat that stood before him, mumbling at his blood covered watch? A shred of decency? Mercy from a ruthless basket case! What the hell had he been thinking! "You pathetic son of a bitch, you said that would save them!"  
He wagged his finger at the naive detective, smiling the whole time as he said, "Now, now, Lawlie, you're the pathetic one, not I! After all, there was never a garentee that Aizawa would go free, was there? I never even said anything about that, only that you should type your name in if you wanted to save them, never once did I say a word about him living through this, did I?"  
"You're a word twisting bastard! You knew exactly what you were saying the whole time! And now they're all dead!"  
"Who's all dead, Lawlie?" Beyond asked, tilting his head to the side in false confusion. L was absolutely furious."You know exactly who I mean!" He raged, "You forced him into a twisted game and made him blow up his own family, and suddenly you don't KNOW WHO YOU KILLED? That's a load of bullshit!" He was sick and tired of the man's games, and deep down he wished Beyond would just kill him already and be done with it.  
"Wrong again." The killer was over by his tool box again, packing the still bloody knife away. Even though he had been watching him the whole time, L still wasn't sure when he had moved from right in front of him to almost behind his chair. "Ide's brother, Aizawa's beloveds, they should still be amongst the living. Or, at least if they're not, I had nothing to do with it. There were never any bombs near them, they were only used as motivation. To be honest, I didn't even know Ide had a brother, it was just pure luck that it turned out that he did!"  
"They killed themselves...for nothing? You made them commit suicide for nothing!"  
"Again, you're wrong." Beyond sighed, it seemed he couldn't get through to his thick-headed predecessor because he just didn't get it. "Do you like being wrong? By the stupid things you keep yelling at me, I'd say that you do. So far nothing you've said has been right." He closed the box and picked it up, walking back over to the man that could be his twin. "I've told you this before, no one but Mogi died for no reason. If he had just stayed out of it, he would still be here," Another sigh, "but he had to interfere, so it was unavoidable."  
"Unavoidable my ass!"  
"After all I've done tonight, you're upset about me killing someone out of anger? Wow. Can't wait to see how you take Raito's position..." A grin pulled at his lips again. He had missed out on killing that bastard, Wammy, in front of L. If there was anything in the world that could make up for for that fluke, it was the forcing the little sugar craver to watch his first friend be tourchered. And if he had thought Matsuda's death had been bad, he had NO idea. The thought made him laugh a little, a real, true laugh, one of the rare ones that weren't forced. The fact that it was natural made it all the more frighting. When L stilled and stopped his sting of curses with big eyes, he couldn't help but laugh again, long and loud.  
"What's the matter, Lawlie pop? Afraid for your besty! Kya ha ha ha! You should see your face, it's funny as hell! Priceless even! Ahah hah hah!" "Don't you lay a finger on him, Beyond! Or I swear-"  
"Don't you lay a finger on him, Beyond, Or I swear!" He echoed, imitating his voice strikingly well. Beyond laughed again and copied his prisoner's hateful and terrified expression before breaking out into a huge, twisted grin, barely containing more shinigami laughter. "Well, since you're so worried about him, I'd say it's time for a visit!" He threw his red box onto the detective's lap painfully, giggling at the pained groan that it caused as he grabbed hold of the back of L's chair and dragging it towards the door, leaving behind the corps of a man that had suffered inferiority complexes most of his life. Beyond hadn't felt this good in so long it was funny! Hilarious! And all it did was make him laugh again, more terrifying sounds ripping from his throat as he thought of the fun he was about to have.  
Kyeheh heh heh heh...Kya ha ha ha ha ha haaa!  
"No! Leave him alone, Back Up! Don't hurt him!" All the killer did was laugh, hardly aware of L's pleas. "Please don't kill him, I'm begging you, just kill me and be done with it! Don't touch him!" All his words meant nothing and he knew it, but that didn't stop him from pleading with this blood-covered shadow until his voice hurt and he was out of breath, and still he begged more. He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice that the chair he was in to didn't have wheels on in when he had woken up tied to it, that there were more doors in this hallway then he had known existed, each one exactly the same with no differences, or how said hallway seemed to go on and on, or that, even though it was pitch black, he was able to see everything but the floor and ceiling in perfect clarity. No, he was too worried for his first real friend's safty to notice any of this. Soon Beyond's cackles at demented laughs had died down to sick giggles, letting L hear something that he hadn't before, and when he did it made his heart skip a beat, not like he needed an extra, his heart had been hammering against his chest for far too long already. It was a straggled yell, lots of yells, actually, yelling, crying, and screaming, the word 'Dad' came up more than a few times.  
"Light!  
"You even know him by who it is just by some crying!" Said Beyond, who was behind him now, pushing the chair in front of him. "How fucking SWEET!" L felt a sharp pain as the killer yanked on his hair viciously, with enough force to make L vaguely wonder if he would bleed again, he still was from hitting the ground so much. His head still hurt like hell.  
"No! Let him go, dammit, don't do anything to him!"  
Beyond ignored him completely, finally finding the door he was looking for. "Hey Lawliet, remember how you volunteered to type your name for me?" Beyond said, emphasising that he hadn't forced him in any way, it had been done of L's own free will with out threat. He opened a door like all the others and pulled L inside with him, into the holding cells that were supposed to be downstairs. "What you really did was set off something I had rigged up, I'm sure you'll like it."

The first thing L saw was Light, crying and pleading to something L didn't see yet. He was in the cell directly across from the door; tied to the bed, that was standing up on it's end against the far wall, but what bound him wasn't ropes, it was thin steel cables, cutting into him harshly with every move he made and making him bleed. His arms and neck were already cut deeply from struggling, chest being protected by his shirt, it probably wasn't bleeding, but was covered in blood all the same from his cuts. He only saw this for an instant, though, because Beyond twisted the chair around to face something L wished he hadn't seen, and even with his scrambled brain, L instantly knew what Beyond had meant by 'rigged up'. Soichiro Yagami was chained to a steel chair that sat in a large metal tub, filled with water. Next to it lay a generator, it's outer casing ripped off and it's wiring torn out, tapped to the side of the tub and Soichiro himself with electrical tape. The skin was in a state that L really didn't thing any human should look like, and he looked away, closing his eyes. "What the hell did you do to him!" He yelled, keeping his eyes shut tightly.  
"Not what I did, Lawlie, what YOU did! When you typed in your name into the computer, you sent a code to the generator and killed Mr. Yagami, right in front of his own son too! How could you do such a thing, you're a monster!"

"You lied to me! Im' not a monster, YOU are!" L opened his eyes when he felt his chair being moved again, three feet from the bares of Light's cell. "You haven't seen anything yet, Lawliet." L whipped around when he felt the whisper at his ear, but saw no one. Beyond was nowhere to be seen, he couldn't even see Soichiro anymore.

"Ready for the show?" Beyond asked him from inside the cell, tool box open as he took out a gleaming cleaver. L looked back at him, not believing what he was seeing. "Please, don't do this!"

"Do you remember A, Lawliet!" He yelled, ignoring L. All traces of laughter was gone now, leaving only anger. "He was my very first friend and my only real rival! He defended me when most of the House was busy kicking the living shit out of me or pushing me down the stairs of destroying my research papers, he was a brother to me, and you killed him!" Beyond swung the cleaver, catching him in the thigh and causing him so scream bloody murder. The sound echoed off the walls and floor, making L wince.

"First you tell him to work harder, THEN you tell him that he'll never be L! EVER!" He began to destroy Light's leg, turning it to bloody pieces of meat right in front of L. L was still was still begging, but he couldn't hear himself over over Beyond's yelling and Light's agonized screams as his leg was ripped apart.

"Know what he does? A goes and jumps off the damn school, laughing like a mad man! With me watching! All anyone saw was A fall and me look down once he did. So not only did I get to watch my best friend die, right after losing C no less, but I get to be blamed for it!" Beyond threw the bloody knife to the ground, tired of this game. "Ready to see how it feels, Lawliet?" Asked the killer as he took a small tin and a lighter from the tool box, "Ready to watch someone that you care more about than your own life, die right in front of your eyes!"L screamed so loud he cut through light's crys and lost his voice, as his friend was drenched in fuel. "How's it feel, L Lawliet!" The lighter was lit, and Light Yagami, still crying, was set up in flames.

L bolted up in bed, screaming. He was in his room, the lights were off, and it was quiet. He could still feel the metal cuff on the chain attached to his wwrist. Light wasn't hanging on his waist anymore, though, and was on his own side of the bed, so he must have moved in his sleep. "Light?" He whispered, unsure if he should wake the other when he was sleeping so soundly. How Light had slept through all that screaming, L had no idea. He sighed, "It was only a dream. Just a nightmare." And calmed down a bit, laying back in bed and hearing something move in the room. "Sorry I woke you, Light-kun." L apologised as he put a hand on his comrade's shoulder, "I just had a hellish nightma-" He froze. What should have been Light's arm was hard, crusty, and crumbling, bits breaking off at his touch.

"You're right, L, it WAS a hellish nightmare." A voice that was not Light's said, the sick grin could be heard through it's words. "In fact, it was the worst kind of nightmare. The kind you don't wake up from."


End file.
